Salt of the Earth: Meet Ray Lightfoot who turned over a new leaf to help the library

Almost all give countless hours of their time to help those in need, yet there is a hidden benefit that even those who volunteer may not immediately appreciate - the boost in their own health and wellbeing.

This week’s Salt of the Earth is Ray Lightfoot, one of the regular volunteers at Newby and Scalby Library.

Ray started volunteering for the library in April 2017, after his family convinced him he needed to spend more time out of the house. He said: “It was December 2016 when my partner and both of my kids talked me into going to the doctors because of ongoing depression.

“After a follow-up appointment in February 2017, the idea was that maybe I should volunteer somewhere as it was deemed I should get out more.

“I was on my way to Proudfoots when I saw the ' library needs you' sign … the writing was, literally, on the wall.”

Retired carpet fitter Ray, 65, quickly embraced being a member of the library, and never misses an opportunity to dress up for a special event.

He said: “One year I dressed as Woody from Toy Story for World Book Day, uselessly as it turned out, as World Book Day was cancelled due to the Beast from East. I was Father Christmas at Scalby Fair, representing Christmas island, and in 2019, I donned a kilt for Burns Night, and I was Hagrid for World Book Day.”

Ray is also the proud owner of a Honda Goldwing and has joined the Goldwing parade for the last two years. He often brings it down for the library’s special events and occasionally even dresses that up too!

Perhaps surprisingly, Ray, who lives in Sandybed Court, isn’t a bookworm. He said: ““I’m not a big reader, in fact, before I got involved with the library, I hadn’t read a proper book in ages.

“I used to use the library in Stoke-on -Trent when I lived there. It was a free resource that I took my daughters to and it kept us going for many years.

“I thought to myself ‘here is an opportunity to put that bit back’.”

Ray spends two days a week at the library. He said: ““Nobody goes to the library to make trouble. The youngsters come to learn and the older ones come for help - usually with computers.

“I’m not great on computers, but I help the job seekers and when they come in and say they got a job I think ‘Wow! I made a difference.’

“There was one man who was going to Australia to plant trees after last year’s devastating fires. I helped him to complete his visa application.

“You get the feeling that you’re answering a need. A dignified old man came up to me and said “I’m having trouble, can you help me?’ I did and he held both of my hands and said ‘Thank you very much’.”

Covid has had a huge impact on the number of people coming to the library. Ray said: “The people that we used to see we don’t see now, both staff and regulars. We had started doing little quizzes, but we can’t do them now. Even at the AGM we are only able to have 15 trustees.

“We are Covid secure and everything we can do is in place, cleaning strategies, masks and bottles of hand sanitiser everywhere.

“People come in and put the books on the return shelf and then we quarantine them for three days before we put them back out.

“We are always looking for volunteers, as you can imagine different people are available at different times. We do need more help, we’re currently not open on a Tuesday because there aren’t enough volunteers to open.”

Isobel Nixon, chair of trustees, said: “Ray is one of a large team of volunteers who keep the library show on the road. They are the ones who deal with returned books, reservations, customer enquiries and operating the stock system.

“Although operating on behalf of the county council, our community library is a registered charity which has no paid employees and which is responsible for the building as well as the library system itself, so in addition to the assistants, we also have a team of volunteer cleaners and gardeners.

“Another team looks after our Home Library customers who are housebound. Beyond that, we have several occasional volunteers who help us at library fundraising events by assisting with catering, selling tickets and so forth.

“An enthusiasm for dressing up for our events is always welcome and Ray never disappoints; whether it’s Christmas, Halloween or an Edwardian bather at Scalby Fair, his contribution is nothing short of extraordinary!

“In total we have in excess of 60 volunteers helping in one way or another and we are always looking for more.

“If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity, take a look at our website: www.newbyandscalbylibrary.co.uk

“Click on the ‘Volunteer’ tab and you will find lots of information about the role and an application form. Alternatively, you can ring the library on 01609 534059 or email us on [email protected].”